I've been considering building a piston valve launcher for some time now. I want to go big, I'm tired of making little launchers. I've made a few and now I want something bigger. I was thinking of making a 4" piston valve to shoot golfballs. would this be too large? should I just use a 3" valve?

haha, that's true!
And price (for me at least) is a moderate issue. Also the 4" pvc i would buy turns out to be only rated at 133 psi, which is enough, id only be pressurizing up to 100 or so, but better safe than sorry.

What about tennis balls? i was thinking of having a multiple barrels that i could just screw on

3 inch would be fine. It would be big enough for what your using it for. Especially if your shooting golf balls. I have a 2 inch chamber on mine and it performs fine. Good luck, and if you end up making the gun make sure to post it.

acs2997 wrote:Im going away soon to block island. like tomorrow kinda soon. thanks for all the help! i've came up with a really interesting kind of reloading system, so ill be sure to include that into my gun.

Yes, it has been done before. I think one of our moderators, jrrdw, attempted it a few years ago and there is a build log on some person's personal website where they also used a 4-port cross instead of a tee (it may have been a coaxial as well). Hopefully someone can provide a link for you.

why would you use it any way?

Flow might improve marginally and there may also be aesthetic or practical reasons for wanting to use a cross.

jsefcik, I've noticed recently that you like to suggest the dust collector valve when anyone wants to make a piston valve. This is all well and good but can you also provide a link to one on ebay or such; many people don't know what they are. Also, providing a link makes your post come across as more considerate than just telling someone to go and buy a valve instead of making one.

While buying a valve can be beneficial (especially with a good valve like a dust collector), you should provide more info (price, availability, porting size, material, etc) so someone can make a rough assessment of them without having to go and dig through Google. Just a friendly suggestion

I also have a friendly suggestion. Actually get the valve make a cannon out of it and test it. All you have been going on is what I have told you about it and 8tonsemi. What if we were in cahoots to get you to get the valve as a prank?? Never thought of that have you??

jsefcik messaged me all of that information. price, avalability, etc. I think im gonna stick to the piston valve.

but the main reason i would use a cross or 4 way tee is so that i could attatch two air tanks that run parralel to my barrel, without being directly underneath. i plan on incorperationg a reloading system and a convention over-under design would get in the way. sure, i could just offset my air tank but that wouldn't look all that great and i would like all the chamber space i can get

moderated message: please don't double post. If you need to reply to two different members, do so in the same post. If you have something to add to a post just after you have submitted it, please use the edit button to edit the original post instead of posting again.

mattyzip77, well then i would be a couple bucks lighter than before! haha thanks for the heads-up

No it really is a good valve, actually its a awesome valve. I have a few and its very powerful and simple to use, plug and play. However piston valves are powerful too and if its the build your after than go that route. There are how too's all over the forum and youtube but if you want a big one check this out